It is impossible to think about any Italian region without wondering ‘What if?’ Sardinia lacks the glamour, grandeur and menace of Sicily, but it is still a fascinating exemplar of Mediterranean culture: the different historical strata stretching back to pre-history. So: what if the mediaeval rulers of Aragon had been more enduring? What if the Catholic kings had never married? There is no reason why Barcelona should have been ruled from Madrid: still less for the Sardinians to be governed by Turin. A sea-girt Aragonese kingdom, including the Languedoc, Sardinia and Sicily — that would have been a glorious flowering of civilisation and romance: Venus emerging from a scallop shell.
The Angevins, driven from the Mediterranean, could have contented themselves with bringing good government to their French domains, subordinated to London. Meanwhile, a Burgundian middle kingdom — a revived Lotharingia under the Hapsburgs — would have been a rival centre of the graces and the arts. All a fantasy, but anyone contemplating the damage which modern Europeans have inflicted on their continent might well seek refuge in fantasy.
Or in a more substantial alternative: a good dinner. Every now and again, David and Samantha Cameron escape from No. 10 for dinner, and they often enjoy Sardinian food and wine at either of Mauro Sanna’s restaurants, Olivomare and Olivocarne, in Elizabeth Street, near enough to dart home if there is a crisis in the shop.
I had a Sardinian feast with Mauro the other night, and it was one of the finest Italian meals I have eaten, and drunk. We started with a fortified Sardinian wine, Vernaccia di Oristano 1990, which had a long, slow, pungent, almost musty, even truffled, quality, unlike anything I had encountered.
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